


Talk To A Green Tree

by WriterWhoWrites



Series: Shout At The Devil [3]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Billy Hargrove Needs a Hug, Billy and Susan bonding, Caretaking, Domestic Violence, Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Mother-Son Relationship, Neil Hargrove's A+ Parenting, Protective Susan Hargrove, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-15
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-21 15:35:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,355
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30023955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WriterWhoWrites/pseuds/WriterWhoWrites
Summary: Susan wasn't Billy's mother.But she sure as hell was Billy's mom.
Relationships: Billy Hargrove & Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Billy Hargrove & Neil Hargrove, Billy Hargrove & Susan Hargrove, Neil Hargrove/Susan Hargrove, Susan Hargrove & Maxine "Max" Mayfield
Series: Shout At The Devil [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1729687
Comments: 15
Kudos: 47





	Talk To A Green Tree

**Author's Note:**

> I just, like, really wanted to write about the relationship between Susan and Billy. 
> 
> Title comes from the song "Talk To A Green Tree" by Laura Nyro (on her album "Mother's Spiritual")
> 
> General content warning for this fic: It's going to go into some really unpleasant topics, like domestic violence, child abuse, and rape/ sexual assault (the incident that is mentioned a few times in Jump In The Fire). Please keep in mind that this story takes place in the 1980s and, in general, people didn't have the resources, education, support, etc to properly deal with these issues (especially domestic violence). Even now in 2021, a lot of people in these situations still do not have the resources and support to safely escape them.
> 
> Content warnings for Chapter 1: Illness (nothing life-threatening, just a very bad case of the flu), talk of more serious illnesses (polio), vomiting, and Neil not being the world's worst dad

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "So you threw up in class, huh?" Susan asked sympathetically. Throwing up in class was undoubtedly worse than simply throwing up. Kids could be cruel, especially at Billy's age.
> 
> "Mr. Collins wouldn't let me go to bathroom," Billy said with a shrug. He was resting his head on the window.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content warnings for Chapter 1: Illness (nothing life-threatening, just a very bad case of the flu), talk of more serious illnesses (polio), vomiting, and Neil not being the world's worst dad (for once in his goddamn life...)
> 
> (Tuesday, November 4th, 1980)

Susan got a call from Billy's school at around one in the afternoon.

She had been married to Neil for about seven months at that point and at the start of the school year, they had updated Max and Billy's school forms to reflect their newly formed family. Updated Billy's "in case of emergency" contact to list her first, since she was more easily able to leave her job at the bank in the middle of the day than Neil was at his job at the security desk of an office building a few blocks away. 

The call was from the school nurse, Thelma Stevens, who politely and professionally informed her that Billy had thrown up and was running a slight fever, and asked that Susan take him home for the rest of the day. 

Getting out of work early was no problem. Susan was in excellent standing at work. And besides, she was very close to her supervisor, Paloma Ramirez, who had two daughters of her own and was always very understanding of her employees who needed to take time off or leave early to take care of their children. Paloma's daughters both went to Billy's school—her younger one, Maria, was a year above Billy and still went there.

The infirmary was in the same wing as the administration offices at Adams Middle School. Susan had to sign in at the front desk and confirm that she was there to pick up Billy Hargrove, seventh grade. She hoped she made a good impression; this would be Billy's school for another year and Max was going to go here as well when she was older. 

"I heard you ralphed in Mr. Collins' class," Susan heard a boy say as she walked closer to the infirmary. "That true?"

"Yeah," she heard Billy's voice answer.

"Gnarly," she heard the other boy say. 

Susan walked through the open door of the infirmary. Billy was sitting in the waiting area at the front, by Thelma Stevens' desk. The boy next to him was holding a soaked tissue to a bloody nose, tilting his back back. 

"Hey," Susan said as she and Billy made eye contact. "You alright?"

"Yeah," Billy said. 

Susan had to sign Billy out on a form at Thelma's desk. As she did so, Thelma advised her that while Billy's temperature had only been 99.5º, there was a nasty bout of the flu that was being passed around at school and that she should keep him home the next day just in case. Susan nodded and thanked her. 

"You should tilt your head forward," Billy was saying to the other boy. "Not back. If you keep doing that, you'll swallow your blood."

"You ready to go?" Susan asked, turning to Billy. 

Billy nodded and grabbed his backpack before Susan could reach for it. 

"Bye. Feel better," the boy said, now tilting his forward.

"Thanks. Later, Ryan," Billy said. 

Billy was quiet in the car on the way home. He was acting like he had when he first met Susan and for the first two months of all of them living together—quiet, shy, not really making eye contact, and not starting any conversations. Susan empathized with him. Having her new husband and her new stepson move in had been an adjustment for _her_ and she was an adult. Billy was just a kid; it was probably _much_ harder for him. He was more talkative when it was just him and Max. Max had been so excited when Neil and Billy moved in; she had helped Billy set up his bedroom. Actually, Max was probably more excited to have a stepbrother than she was to have a stepfather. After all, her own father, Sam, was still in the picture. Kind of. He had missed his visitation that month. 

Billy's mother, Sandra, was not in the picture. At all. Neil had told her early on that Sandra had packed up all of her things and left in the early morning hours the week after Billy had turned ten. She had left a note for Neil with a phone number where she could be reached and then a week later, divorce papers had been mailed to the house. They had been having problems, and they had been working on them. Neil had told her that she talked on the phone to Billy one time after she left and then the phone number that she had been using had been disconnected. Neither Neil nor Billy had heard from her since. 

When Neil had told her that, Susan cried. She couldn't help it. Divorce was one thing, but what kind of a mother just abandoned her own child? Sam was flighty, sure, and irresponsible and selfish and unreliable in every way, but even he hadn't outright abandoned their daughter. 

"So you threw up in class, huh?" Susan asked sympathetically. Throwing up in class was undoubtedly worse than simply throwing up. Kids could be cruel, especially at Billy's age.

"Mr. Collins wouldn't let me go to bathroom," Billy said with a shrug. He was resting his head on the window.

"Couldn't hold it for a little bit?"

"I didn't try to," Billy said. "Mr. Collins is a dick."

Susan let out a short, surprised laugh. This was the first time Billy had said anything remotely jokey to her. He had gotten more comfortable with her in the past few months, but he still seemed to have some hesitation when he spoke to her. She looked over at him. He looked like he was holding back a smile. She didn't have the heart to tell him not to say "dick."

"I made it the trash can," he added. 

"Well, that's good, at least," Susan chuckled. "Hey, next time, don't listen to your teacher if they say you can't go to the bathroom. Just go, okay? Grown-ups never need permission to go to the bathroom, so it's pretty stupid to give that rule to kids."

* * *

Billy did his homework when he got home and spent the rest of the day in his room. Susan didn't hear any music playing, so she assumed he was either taking a nap or reading. Billy liked to read. It was one of the things that she noticed about him right away when they started living together. 

He barely ate dinner that night. He was probably still feeling a bit off, even though he was acting like he was okay. Neil didn't comment on it. He knew, of course, that Susan had picked him up early that day. When he got home that evening, he had asked Billy how he was feeling; Billy had said he was feeling fine. Neil didn't push any further, even as he watched Billy push his food around on his plate and then head to bed earlier than usual.

* * *

The next morning, Susan let Billy sleep in as she got Max ready for the school bus. She had already decided to take the nurse's advice to keep Billy home that day; she just hoped that maybe he slept off whatever bug he had the day before. If he had, Susan would go into work and call home as often as she could to check up on him. She went into his room after Max had gone to the bus stop. Billy was curled up in his bed under his blankets. Even though he was buried in there, she could see him shivering. Shit. She went to go get the thermometer in the bathroom. When she came back, she gently shook Billy awake. He woke up with a small whine. 

"Morning," she said softly. "I need to take your temperature. Think you can roll over on your back for a minute?"

With effort, Billy rolled over. Susan sat on the edge of the bed next to him and handed him the thermometer to put under his tongue. She counted down the seconds on her watch. They waited for the allotted three minutes to be up in silence. Susan gave him a smile that she hoped he found reassuring. 

Billy's temperature was 103º. Susan called herself out of work and called him out of school.

"Take as much time off as you need, Suze," Paloma said over the phone. "If he has what Maria had last week, he's in for a rough few days."

Susan went back into Billy's room with a glass of water and a bottle of Tylenol. Billy had curled back up in the minutes she had been gone. She didn't want to have to make him move again, but she had to. 

"You can swallow pills right?" she asked as she shook out a Tylenol. 

"Yeah," Billy croaked out. 

Susan watched him take the Tylenol to make sure he didn't choke. He finished all the water in the glass quickly. He was probably thirsty as hell with a fever that high. 

"You hungry at all?" Susan asked, taking the empty glass. "Want to try to eat something?"

Billy shook his head and laid back down. 

"I'm going to get you some more water," she said. "Let me know if you need anything else, okay?"

"Don't you have to go to work?" Billy asked quietly. 

"No, I called out," Susan said, surprised that Billy would even ask that. "I'm not leaving you home alone like this."

"Aren't you hourly though?" he asked, eyeing her carefully. Like he was bracing himself for her to say 'oh, you're right, I need to go to work.'

Susan was not hourly. But that really wasn't the point. 

"That's not for you to worry about," she said, giving him a small smile.

* * *

Billy slept for the next three hours. Susan woke him up once to check on his temperature, which had increased slightly from 103 to 103.4. He was clearly in pain—he was shivering and was slow to roll over and sit up to drink the water that Susan brought for him, like moving and even opening his eyes was hard to do. He was pale and his eyes were red-rimmed. It killed Susan that she had to wait another hour to give him another dose of Tylenol. But was the Tylenol even helping? 

Twenty minutes after Susan had checked his temperature, she heard Billy stumble into the bathroom. She made it in there just as he fell to his knees in front of the toilet, throwing up whatever was in stomach. 

Without a second thought, Susan knelt down next to him and put her hand on his back, rubbing up and down. It's what she did for Max when she got sick.

"That's good, just get it all out," she murmured. 

It seemed to be a never-ending loop of gagging, dry-heaving, and vomit. Susan stayed with him through it, rubbing his back and hoping that it would stop soon so that Billy could get some reprieve. When it finally did, he stayed hunched over the toilet. Susan felt his feverish body shaking underneath her hand.

"Do you want to try to brush your teeth?" she suggested. "A clean mouth will help you feel better."

Billy's breath hitched. He was crying. 

"Hey," Susan said quietly. She gently pulled him up so he wasn't hunched over. "Hey, Billy, it's okay. You'll be okay."

Billy wouldn't look at her, but Susan saw that his eyes were shiny with tears. She brushed back his hair with her fingertips. His breath hitched again. The tears fell from his eyes. 

"I want my mom," he managed say before totally breaking down.

Susan's heart shattered. She gathered Billy into her arms. He fell into her, sobbing into her shoulder. He was a small kid for a twelve-year-old; it was easy for Susan to support his weight. 

She didn't take it personally. Billy was sick and in pain—of course he wanted his mother. Hell, when Susan was in college and had gotten pneumonia, she had wanted her mother, too. It wasn't something you grew out of. Even if you hadn't seen or heard from your mother in two years. 

"I know, honey," she said softly, stroking his back. "I know you do. It's okay."

Susan wasn't naive; she knew that she wasn't the person Billy wanted. She knew she was just a stand-in for his mom that he never asked for. They'd only been living together for seven months and had known each other for less than a year. They were only a little more than strangers at that point. This was only the second time that Susan had hugged him. She didn't really touch him a lot; she was still trying to figure out his boundaries and was being careful not to cross them. She had been quietly following Neil's example—he didn't touch Billy often either. Susan figured that maybe Billy just didn't like to be touched. 

Still. Susan was glad and relieved that Billy was accepting the comfort that she was offering. 

* * *

Neil got home at 5:30 and tried to hide his worry when Susan updated him on Billy. 

"He's been sleeping on and off most of the day," Susan told him as he changed out of his work uniform in their bedroom. Max was setting the table for dinner. "His fever is pretty high, but it's stable."

"Okay," Neil said. He zipped his jeans up and pulled a t-shirt over his head. "He in his room?"

Susan nodded. Neil walked out of their bedroom and down the hall to step into Billy's. Susan went into the hallway too, to put some freshly washed and folded towels in the linen closet. 

"Hey," she heard Neil say softly. "How are you feeling?"

"Not good," was Billy's pained reply. 

From her position, Susan could see into Billy's bedroom because Neil had left the door open. He was sitting on the edge of the bed next to him, with a hand on him, over the comforter. 

"Can you call Mom?" Billy asked in a small voice. 

Neil sighed.

"We talked about this, Mouse," he said. 

"I know, but maybe she changed her mind."

Susan's throat tightened. She didn't stick around to hear Neil's response. She walked into the kitchen. Max was sitting at the table, finishing up a worksheet for homework. 

"Is Billy okay?" she asked.

"He will be," Susan assured her. "We just have to let him rest and be extra quiet, okay?"

"Okay," Max nodded. 

Susan wrapped Max into a hug and kissed her on the top of her head. 

"I love you, Maxie," she said. 

"Love you too, Mom."

* * *

"Do you think he needs a doctor?" Neil asked that night when they were in bed. "He really doesn't look good."

"No," Susan said. "It's the flu. The only thing to do is to keep him hydrated and let him rest. His body will fight it off."

"Well, maybe his doctor can give him antibiotics or something," Neil said. 

"They don't give antibiotics for the flu," Susan said gently. She understood Neil's worry and frustration. It was always hard to see your child sick and not be able to do anything about it.

"You know my younger brother? Rick?" Neil said after a moment. Susan nodded. She had met Rick at the wedding. "He had polio when he was little."

Rick walked with a crutch. Susan had never asked Neil about it. It seemed intrusive. 

"He had to be put in an iron lung," Neil continued. "He almost died."

"That's awful," Susan wrapped a hand around Neil's bicep and stroked her thumb over it. "Honey, Billy doesn't have polio," she reminded him. 

"I _know_ he doesn't have polio," Neil said. "I got him vaccinated for that." He paused. "Sandra didn't want to get him vaccinated. She thought it would stunt his growth or some horse shit like that. I had to miss a shift at work to take him to the doctors' to get his shots when he was a baby. She nearly lost her damn mind when she found out."

"Jesus," Susan muttered.

* * *

Billy slept most of the day on Thursday. He threw up twice, but mostly managed to keep down glasses of water, some juice, and a few Saltines. He couldn't remember ever being this sick. He had the chills and was constantly shivering, even buried in his sheets and comforter. His head hurt. His muscles ached. His throat felt raw. He didn't want to take the Tylenol that Susan kept giving him every four hours, but he didn't want to find out if he would feel worse if he _didn't._ He wanted Susan to go to work and to stop checking up on him and stroking his hair even though it felt good and he _hated_ the fact that it felt good. He also didn't want her to leave. He wanted his mom and he felt stupid and childish for wanting her when she clearly didn't want _him._

On Friday, Susan let him sleep until ten before she woke him up to take his temperature. It had gone down a bit and was now hovering at 101º. 

"Do you think you can make it to the couch today?" she asked. "I want to throw your sheets in the wash."

Billy nodded and slowly got out of bed. Susan took out a fresh pair of pajamas from Billy's dresser and tossed it on the bed for him, suggesting that he change out of the ones he'd been wearing and sweating in for the past two days. He got changed as Susan turned her back to open a window, letting fresh air into the room. 

"Ouch," Susan said as Billy pulled the new t-shirt over his head. She noticed the yellowing bruise on the side of his ribcage. "What did you do?"

"Tripped in gym class," he lied. 

Billy was able to fill a glass of water and get himself to the couch by himself while Susan stripped his bed. He covered himself with a throw blanket, curled up, and swore that he would never take his health for granted ever again. Susan came into the room and handed him the TV remote. 

"Probably nothing good on, but you never know," she said. She lightly raked her fingers through his hair. Billy's eyes slipped shut. 

When Billy woke up, a _Star Trek_ rerun was playing on TV at a low volume. He recognized the actors' voices before he even opened his eyes. Billy liked _Star Trek._ He watched it sometimes at Ryan Brune's house because Billy's mother never let him watch it. She thought it would give him nightmares. He had once tried to get his best friend Amy Richardson to watch it with him; she had called him a nerd. 

He heard the low hum of the dryer running and a faint but steady _click-click-clack_ sound. He opened his eyes. Susan was sitting on the other end of the couch. She was knitting something with thin metallic needles and watching the show. In his sleepy state, Billy was impressed that she could knit without even looking at what she was doing. 

"Sorry, did I wake you up?" she asked, pausing in her knitting.

"No," Billy said quietly. He hesitated for a second before adding: "I like this show."

"Yeah?" Susan smiled. "I do, too."

They watched the episode together in silence, save for the _click-click-clack_ of Susan's knitting needles. 

"You feeling any better?" she asked at a commercial break.

"A little."

"You hungry? I can make you some soup if you want."

"Sure. Thanks."

He was able to keep the soup down, and also a few glasses of water and some peanut butter crackers later in the day. He still wasn't feeling 100% but he was feeling a lot better than he had been. He stayed on the couch for the rest of the day, even after Susan put his clean sheets on his bed. He told himself that it was just because he wanted to watch the _Star Trek_ marathon on TV. 

And if Susan wanted to spend her day sitting next to him, knitting and watching it too, Billy wasn't going to stop her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Vaccines do not stunt your growth. Get yourself and your children vaccinated.


End file.
